Martina Puigvert: "Les Cols is possible thanks to the landscape of La Garrotxa and its people"

OlotGarrochina chef Martina Puigvert is one of the great figures of the Catalan culinary sceneAt just 30 years old, he is already head chef of the highly renowned Les Cols de Olot restaurant, with two Michelin stars, founded by his parents, Manel Puigvert and Fina Puigdevall, in 1990. He has just published his first book, Living nature (NOW Books), in which, besides sharing some of her most treasured recipes, she skillfully conveys a genuine way of understanding life and cooking as two inseparable pillars linked to the land and nature. The book is essentially a guide to ten dishes and preparations, based on tradition but with a modern perspective, which, with an exquisite visual presentation, evokes and paints an authentic sensory journey through the volcanic landscape of La Garrotxa.

Deeply rooted in her region, the young cook lives in a secluded house in the Bianya Valley, near a mill and the vegetable garden where they grow the vegetables for Les Cols, raise chickens, and graze lambs. Puigvert completed her science-focused high school studies in Olot and, from a young age, absorbing the philosophy of her family's restaurant, knew her future lay in something related to food: "All my classwork was about food, as was my work placement at the Can Ferrer pastry shop." Then, after visiting the open house at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián, she decided to enroll and begin studying cooking. She trained in restaurants in Barcelona and New York and developed a social project in Bolivia, before returning to the founding principles of Les Cols, where she now leaves her mark.

The landscape of La Garrotxa and its people

In few restaurants is the cuisine as inseparable from its surroundings as at Les Cols. For Martina Puigvert, living and working in La Garrotxa is certainly a "privilege" that is directly and naturally reflected in every dish. "We have unique products, like the Santa Pau bean, which has such a distinctive character and is a protected designation of origin. Also our onion, which grows on the slopes of the Croscat volcano, or buckwheat, much loved by the local culture," she explains. But it's not just the products of La Garrotxa that Puigvert values and wants to promote, but also all the people who love and care for the region, from the first to the last. "My mother has always wanted everyone to feel part of the project, from the farmers and harvesters to the architects –the prestigious Olot-based studio RCR—and the person who selects the restaurant's music,” he emphasizes. And he concludes: “Les Cols is possible thanks to the landscape of La Garrotxa and its people.”

Between San Martín de Solaman and San Pedro Despuig

The region is present in the restaurant's daily life in its most comprehensive sense. But, of course, Puigvert has its favorite spots and spaces. The nerve center is the orchard, nestled between the Romanesque churches of Sant Martí de Solaman and Sant Pere Despuig, near Casa Horitzó, also designed by the RCR studio, which now houses the R&D research space. From there springs its everyday and gastronomic inspiration, which extends to the Jordà beech forest and the Santa Margarida volcano, with its hermitage in the crater. The chef describes it thus: "It's a very beautiful landscape, but at the same time, it has a lot of character." In fact, it's traditionally said that La Garrotxa "is a land of bad footprints," due to its harsh, rugged character and abrupt terrain. An environment that, she assures us, clearly marks the "mutable" passage of time. "The seasons here are experienced very intensely, with all their colors and chromatics, from winter, without leaves, in autumn or spring," he says.

Edible bouquet and buckwheat rice

And how does this fascination with the volcanic landscape of forests and cliffs translate into practice in each dish? Puigvert highlights two examples, present in the book's recipe collection and also on the restaurant's menu. The first, one bouquet Made with leaves, herbs, and flowers: "It's made with freshly picked vegetables from the garden and is meant to be eaten with your fingers, like a paintbrush. It's a fresh dish that connects with the gesture and the present moment," he explains. The second dish is buckwheat rice, made from this herbaceous plant typical of the area, which resembles a cereal and is used in different ways: "We cook it with the grain, with flour, and also with liquid, since we serve the dish with buckwheat beer," he details. And regarding the unique character of his dishes, he concludes: "We are very clear about where the product comes from and all the history and culture of the region, but at the same time, we want to embrace all these new techniques and contributions we can make."

Working as a family

The natural environment is key to Puigvert's work, but so is the staff, as Les Cols has established itself in the top tier of gastronomy while remaining a family restaurant. In addition to her mother, the chef works with her sisters Carlota Puigvert, head pastry chef, and Clara Puigvert, head waiter and sommelier. "We are the mother and sisters, but we also consider the entire team an extension of the family and we want everyone to be able to contribute their vision," says Martina Puigvert. The fact that it's a close-knit, homey project, where everyone is part of a small Garrotxa family beyond blood ties, doesn't mean it operates in a closed or insular way. Quite the opposite: Les Cols is a restaurant with an open and cross-disciplinary, almost artistic and holistic approach, where all disciplines and perspectives intertwine and complement each other, from the kitchen to the dining room and architecture, including the naturalists and biologists who bring a sustainable perspective to the building and the crops. "We try to draw from all these disciplines to evolve the project, with the desire to keep its roots firmly anchored in La Garrotxa, but with the aspiration to reach further," he concludes.